Kannada Article: Vid. Narasimha Bhat
English Translation: K Mukundan
(ಪ್ರತಿಕ್ರಿಯಿಸಿರಿ lekhana@ayvm.in)
नैवाकृतिः फलति नैव कुलम् न शीलम् विध्यापि नैव न च यत्क्रुतापि सेवा ।
भाग्यानि पूर्वतपसा खलु सन्चितानि कालॆ फलंति पुरुषस्य यथैव व्यक्ताः ।। सुभाषित-नीतिशतक- ೯೭
Naivākr̥tiḥ phalati naiva kulaṁ na śīlaṁ vidyāpi naiva na ca yatnakr̥tāpi sēvā |
bhāgyāni pūrvatapasā khalu san̄chitāni kālē phalanti puruṣhasya yathaiva vyaktaah || -subhāṣhita-nītiśataka-97
Message:-
A man's form, gracefulness, family lineage, noble qualities, education or dedicated service will not yield fruit. Just like a tree yields fruit only at the right season, good fortunes assimilated against earlier penance, will bear fruit only at the destined time.
Discussion:-
We sow a good seed in a land of abundance. We provide the required water, fertilizer and agricultural needs for its sustenance and growth at the right time. All kinds of work required to yield a good harvest are adequately carried out. In spite of all this dedication, the required result is not obtained as per our requirement. There is a time assigned by nature for the seed to grow and bear fruit. The tree does not supersede its rule to meet our requirement.
Drawing a parallel to the above example, we can consider the case of a person with unsurpassed all-round prowess, expertise, grace, nobility, education etc, in this world. Nevertheless, his contribution of penance, selfless service to mankind evolves like a seed to manifest as a tree to yield the desired fruit as per its own ordained program, not as per his expectation.
It is thus seen that the accumulated reward for the best of our struggle involving our knowledge, nobility etc. cannot be experienced as per our estimation. It has got its own natural cycle of evolution and manifestation, which is not in the realm of any person other than the driving force of KARMA which is empowered to decide the quantum of accrued benefits/punishment against our positive/negative actions and the time of their realization.
The power of Karma can be foreseen with the above analogy. Once an action is carried out(good or evil), we are destined to experience the resultant reaction enforced on us by KARMA. In view of this a wise person has to review his planned action thoroughly before its implementation.
Performing any action in a suitable way after sufficient forethought is the message conveyed in the Neethi Shathataka appended above as Fruits of action cannot be modified or altered. Note: The Kannada version of this article can be viewed at AYVM blogs.